Commodore User


Myth
By System 3
Commodore 64

 
Published in Commodore User #75

Myth

Mythology opens countless doorways for countless game plots. As you can guess from the title, this is one such game. Based closely around Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Norse legends. Myth contains everything from the Chimera to King Tut.

The dark god Dameron has succeeded in altering the past, which in turn has forced changes in modern times. No god can be allowed to alter the course of history, so the forces of good have selected a mortal man to go back in time to undo the evil work.

Clad in trendy battle gear of jeans, sneakers and baseball jacket, you stop off in Hell. Apart from the Skeletons and the cute Harpies (all of whom are out for your blood), you also have to vanquish a rather irate demon. If you successfully survive that encounter, you have to do battle with the Chimera, a nasty fusion of lion, goat and serpent. These scenes are set against picturesque backgrounds of rock formations and boiling pits.

Myth: History In The Making

If you survive that first encounter, you emerge in ancient Greece (still part of the same level). The first nasty here is a Nymph, who beckons you to come closer. She looks quite pretty, until you make a mistake that is, and approach her. Next up is a colossal Achilles (pretty obvious what to do here). After that you enter a temple full of platforms which are a bugger to negotiate, especially when you realise Medusa's at the end of them. Finally comes the massive Hydra, a huge slavering beastie which, according to legend, regrows its heads when they're cut off (Yet another puzzle, here).

That takes you to the end of the first section, not bad when you consider that there are four equally packed levels in total. Myth does use multi-load, but the size of each level means you don't seem to notice it much.

In the second section you're placed on a huge Viking longship, while (sampled) thunderclaps ring from the monitor and the only illumination is provided by lightning flashes. Once you've worked out how to get off this boat you're transported to a quiet forest. Later on, you get to rescue a damsel in distress, fight an invincible dragon, and enter Valhalla. In true Erik The Viking style, Thor mills around hurling the odd thunderbolt your way while you enter the arena to do battle with Odin.

Myth: History In The Making

The most striking feature about Myth is its graphics. The animation for the small character is fantastic. The big monsters are fantastically coloured and their movement is impeccable. It's impossible to list all the amazing visual features, which is just as well, because they'll always surprise you.

Most of the sound effects are sampled, which makes for a game with high standards throughout. Your arcade skills aren't the only things which are tested, the number of puzzles are enough to keep anybody happy for quite a long time.

I don't think I would be exaggerating when I say that Myth is one of the best games to appear on the C64. It has just about everything necessary to make it a classic: amazing graphics, amazing sound, and fantastic gameplay make it a gamesplayer's dream.

Mark Patterson